Crude oil fell on Friday, hovering just above the $108.00 a barrel level, amid rising caution ahead of the US key jobs data that will provide clues on when the Federal Reserve will start cutting its massive bond-buying program.Crude however is set to end the week in gains supported by concerns of a potential US military strike on Syria that may spread the unrest in the Middle East and disrupt supply. Obama is searching for backing from allies while at the G20 summit in Russia.
“Syria is the focus and the way that the incursion occurs will dictate how oil will behave. There will be a spike. The event to push it through $112.50 is going to have to be pretty huge”, said Jonathan Barratt.
- Crude is trading around $108.30 a barrel after falling $0.07
- Brent is trading around $115.17 a barrel after falling $0.09
President Obama is also seeking approval from Congress before taking action against Syria after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted for a restricted operation. U.S. lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene on September 9. Obama is facing growing pressures from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and other world leaders not to act, as many fear a strike would push oil prices higher, thus hurting the global economy.
Crude inventories fell by 1.83 million barrels to 34.8 million last week, according to the Energy Information Administration report. Gasoline stockpiles decreased by 1.83 million barrels, while distillates inventories increase by 549,000 barrels.
- Natural gas is trading at $3.56 per cubic feet after falling 0.42%
- Gasoline is trading at $2.8318 per cubic feet after falling 0.15%
- Heating oil (diesel) is trading at $3.1341 a gallon after falling 0.18%